City Freedom
by angel-mobile
Summary: Love. Four letters, one syllable. A tiny, simple word. Leah leaves Washington behind and finds peace and love in a place and with a person she never would have expected.
1. Chapter 1

Love. Four letters, one syllable. A tiny, simple word. Yet it is somehow more important than every other word in the dictionary. Why? Is it good? Is it impossible to live without? The answers fall into the abyss, undiscovered in the madness of humanity.

I'd like to say she flew into my life like a hurricane, but too much embellishment on this story would make it entirely unbelievable. She didn't burst through the doors of my cafe as if running for her life; she walked, calmly and with her head down. We were busy that day. I like to tell people that I noticed her right away, instantly wanting to get to know her. Truthfully, I just barely acknowledged her enough to pour her a cup of coffee and hand her a menu. It wasn't until almost an hour later, when my second waitress showed up that I could take a look at the girl who would change my life.

She looked fine, I suppose, especially knowing what I know now. She had polished off five cups of coffee, though considering the Dixie cups people insisted I use, that wasn't saying much. I placed one of the soup bowl sized mugs I kept on hand for myself in front of her.

"Do you want something to eat? Or do you also possess the power to survive entirely on caffeine?" My words seemed to shock her out of a very deep train of thought. She lifted her head to look me in the eyes. Those eyes. They were incredible. Almost black, they didn't show her entire life story like most people's did. No, they simply looked as if they had seen more than they ever wanted to and cared to remember.

"Oh, I'll just stick to the universe's greatest creation, thanks."

"Alright, let me know if you change your mind." She didn't and I didn't even see her pay her bill and leave.

She came in everyday of a week before I learned her name. She always just sat and drank cup after cup of coffee, which prompted the line cooks into proclaiming she was an alien, for no human life form could consume that much caffeine without having a cardiac incident. They went on about how her name was probably Kwwakl or Bjlik or something else with too many syllables and awkwardly placed vowels. I had to step in.

"Alright, you have to settle a bet for me" I said, refilling her mug.

"What's that?" she didn't lift her head at all. I hadn't seen her eyes since that first day.

"What's your name? Please tell me it's not Kwlwakli or something crazy like that. I have to do Stevie's clean up for a week if he proves that you aren't human."

"What?" There they were. True surprise ran through her eyes at my seemingly insane comment. I smiled and attempted to explain.

"See they guys," I pointed to the pick-up window to indicate who I was talking about, "seem to think you are from another planet. Apparently the amount of caffeine you intake each day is impossible for a being from this Earth. "

"Ah." I could tell she didn't really understand but she went with it "My name is Leah. Normal, common even. Not a space alien."

"Ha, I win. Thank you. I don't have to clean the front of house at the end of the night for a week. Sweet."

"What about you? Do I get to know the name of the wonderful coffee bearer or should I just keep referring to you as God?"

"Mel. Melanie actually, but only my mother calls me that. God works to though. I am known to be worshiped early enough in the morning."

Just then the bell signaling customers rang, allowing thirty teenagers impatiently seeking things that would shorten their lifespans to crush our conversation. She paid her bill and left before I could get back to her.

She didn't show up the next day. I shouldn't have noticed. It wasn't like she was a true regular. Still, not having to brew a new pot of coffee every five minutes reminded me of her absence. I was about to lock up for the night when she showed.

"Are you closing? I come back in the morning then." She was standing at the bottom of the stairs, about to turn to leave.

"Don't worry about it. Get in here before you freeze."

She sat down in one of the booths while I brought her coffee. Stevie had started begrudgingly cleaning the front of house area, so I sat down across from her.

"So, you're here late today. Big day on the town?"

"Hmm..." she swallowed her mouthful of coffee to answer me. "No, not really. Fruitless job hunting. I just moved here, still trying to get my bearings."

"Well, on the work front, Toronto isn't exactly the best place to be right now. Not seeing as much hurt as some places in the States but it's not Pleasantville either."

"Please, I was in Detroit before here. Nothing can be worse than that."

"You're American?" I was genuinely surprised by this revelation. "I pegged you as some who grew up on one of the Native reservations up in Northern Ontario."

"That's close, sort of. I grew up on a reserve in Washington State, about three hours outside Seattle."

"Long way from here. Away or to?"

"Pardon?" My vague question lit a spark in Leah's eyes. I could tell she knew what I meant, but was playing dumb.

"Are you running away from something or towards something? No one gets this far away from home without a cause."

"Oh... um, both I suppose." She hardened her eyes, daring me to ask for more details. I decide to change the subject.

"So if you're looking for work, one of my waitresses quit today. That is if you think you can hack serving breakfast to rude business people every day."

"Really? Are you sure? I mean I don't want a pity job or anything." Joy was tinged with suspicion on her face. She obviously wasn't accustomed to kindness from strangers.

"Not at all. Katie, you know, the peppy blond one, is heading back to Ottawa for school. Poor thing's going to freeze to death up there but whatever. So if you're interested and can handle the occasional ass-grab from a trucker..."

"Sure, I'd love to. And trust me, once I break one guy's arm, the rest will learn dam quick."

"You'd think so but it never really works that way." I laughed. We kept talking for almost an hour. I related some of my horror stories of working in food service and she almost laughed a few times. As she was leaving, after assuring me she would be back bright and early to start work, only one thought was going through my head. _Oh, boy. I'm in trouble._

_

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_A/N: For the first time I am attempting to post a story that is more than a one shot. I am a meticulous editor and prefer to have entire chapters mapped out in my head before I even put pen to paper, so I can't promise the fastest updates in the world. That being said I hope you enjoy the fruits of my twisted imagination. Review if you'd like, but I'm not going to beg.

_**Disclaimer: The above is a work of fiction. **__**All recognizable characters are the property of their respective copyright owners. Any and all similarities to real life people and events are purely coincidental.  
**_


	2. Chapter 2

Leah turned out to be one of the smartest hires I had ever made. She learned fast and was incredibly patient with some of our more 'particular' customers. During her third shift, my senior server, Maggie, whispered her thoughts to me by the kitchen doors.

"I've never seen a newbie handle Mr Kandahar without pitching a fit or bursting into tears. She's like a serving god."

"I know! Earlier she served an entire booth full of teenagers who were baked out of their minds. She barely blinked, got them all served and out in under an hour and they paid their bill in full. I am a genius."

"Yes you are boss; a completely smitten genius." Maggie winked at me before sauntering back to work.

"Crap" I thought "Is it that obvious?" I sat down in my tiny office to do paperwork, hoping the numbers would be enough to keep my mind off things that couldn't be.

"Don't panic." I whispered to no one "It's Maggie. She notices way more than anyone." It was true. Maggie had place that one of our old line cooks was pregnant before the woman herself did and knew that one of the regulars, a guy who came in constantly to hit on her was gay. "She won't say anything. You will get past this. You are her boss now. Nothing can happen." As much as I told myself otherwise, I knew Maggie was right. I was indeed totally smitten with the new girl.

I wound my long red hair into a bun and slowly massaged my temples with my finger tips. This was fast becoming a recurring theme in my life. I kept finding myself attracted to the absolute wrong person. First it was the girl with self-esteem issues and a serious substance problem, and then it was the guy with the inability to stop sleeping with his younger sister's friends. Now I was falling hard and fast for a straight girl; my employee, who obviously had some sort of demons in her past.

"She will swing." Consumed entirely by my own private pity party, I hadn't noticed Maggie enter the room. She perched herself on my desk and picked up my slinky.

"Shouldn't you be working? Supervising the new girl, maybe?" My voice contained more venom then the situation really called for, but Maggie was getting into my head and I mostly prefer people not doing that.

"It died down, she can handle it. Like I was saying, she never has before, but she doesn't seem to be opposed to it. Particularly when it comes to you."

"I'm her boss Mags. It is probably the worst situation one can get oneself into."

"Right, you're her boss. And why did you hire her again?"

"Katie left, we needed a new server." I was quick, perhaps too quick, to defend my actions.

"Sure. Had nothing to do with you wanting to make sure she didn't disappear on you at all."

"Go back to work Maggie. I have paperwork that needs to get done." I intoned my words with my rarely used 'boss voice'. She shook her head with smirk and did as she was told.

Leah closed with me that night. In fact she closed with me the next three nights in a row, things had been so busy. It was ten o'clock Saturday evening and she was doing a final sweep. I was pretending to count the till while watching her out of the corner of my eye. There was always something odd about her posture. Legs never totally extended, body never truly relaxed. Always on edge, prepared. What for I had no idea. Putting down the cash in my hands I decide to hell with morality and past mistakes.

"So, we should go pump our bloodstreams full of liquor, what do you think?"

"Pardon?" Leah loved to play dumb. She almost always knew what I was saying, but often chose to make me repeat myself.

"Place is closed tomorrow. I say we go to some bar, order ten of whatever is cheap and act 23 and stupid." I had asked her about her age on her second day of work and was surprised to discover she was the same age as I was. The broken look I'd sometimes catch in her eyes gave me the impression that she had seen the heartbreak of someone who was at least 27.

"I don't know." She put down her broom and hesitantly looked at her watch "I don't really do well in crowds of people."

"Don't worry. You'll be with me and no one around here messes with me." I flashed my 'sly but beautiful' smile at her. According to two exes and most of my friends, it was a smile that could convince anyone to do anything.

"Fine. I am not holding back your hair while you puke though. You can get gross and suffer."

"Tommy! Two shots of Jack, straight!" We had made it to my favourite night-time hang-out. Part bar, part club, it wasn't as fancy as many of the other joints in the city, but the killer drink prices and frequent appearances by great bands made it popular with the locals. Tommy owned the place and was a regular at my joint, drinking red-eyes and scarfing sliders at 2 pm having just woken up.

"Sure thing Mels. Showing your newbie the town? Or trying to get into her pants?" I fought hard to keep my jaw from dropping. Was it that obvious to everyone? Was it that obvious to Leah? Part of my brain started to panic. Another part answered Tommy's question.

"We'll just have to see how the night goes. And you know what? Gimme that bottle." Tommy grinned and shook his head the same way Maggie had. I knew this was now going to go one of two ways.

I ducked and squeezed my way across the rapidly filling room to the booth we had managed to score. Leah was looking entirely out of her element. Poor small town girl.

"Don't look too happy here. You might strain something." She looked up and gave me one of her patented almost-smiles. I'd never seen anything bigger cross her face.

"Just taking it all in. Locating exits, finding escape routes, standard drill." She took the glass I offered out of my hand and threw it back. I did the same and poured each of us another.

"Were you in the military or something? That sounds an awful lot like soldier's mind to me."

"No, not really. Just... never mind. It's not a good story."

"No," I said, refilling our glasses once more, "not a good story is that old urban legend about the woman and her pet boa constrictor. I'm sure yours is a great story."

"Fine. The res I grew up on has this kind of group of protectors. To keep danger off our land. It's mostly guys, but with my bloodlines, I got pulled into it, involuntarily. We had to be constantly aware. It has become habit now I suppose." She grabbed the whiskey bottle from my hand to keep pouring.

"So is that what you are running from? Your tribe's expectations of you?" My mind flashed back to our first real conversation.

"That and some other things. I guess I just wanted to make my own way instead of my life being entirely controlled by my heritage. But enough about that bullshit. What about you?"

"What about me? Nothing interesting has ever really happened to me."

"Really? Not even, say, ending up owning a cafe-diner in Toronto when home is, I'm guessing, Chicago?"

"Wow. I thought the accent had faded. Very astute." She lightly raised her lowball glass to me, before beckoning for me to continue. "I came up here when I was seventeen. Started working at Hobbles as a waitress. The owner totally took me under his wing, got me set up in the city. Eventually he promoted me to desserts in the kitchen, then up the ranks until I was basically the head chef. When he died a year ago, he willed the place to me."

"He made the right choice obviously. Rare to see a joint like yours run as smoothly as it does. So, away or to?" She smirked as she threw my own question back at me. I laughed loudly before answering.

"Both. Away from my family and their unreasonable expectations. My parents wanted me to go to medical school, and then promptly after getting my degree, get married and pop out a bunch of kids. Does that seem right to you?"

"Wow. That is ridiculous. What about to?" She wasn't going to let it go like I did. But the Jack had more control over my mouth than my brain at that point so it didn't really matter.

"I'll let you know when I find it." My mind was wonderfully blurry by that point and the DJ was starting to pump the bass. Feeling the overwhelming need to move, I threw back one more shot and grabbed Leah's hand.

"Come on, let's go dance!" She didn't protest, just followed me to the center of the floor.

Another reason I loved Tommy's place so much was that the music wasn't your standard dance-club pop-rap radio-crap. A couple of rock songs I didn't know played as Leah and I danced. Though we were face to face and maintaining friendly distance, I couldn't take my eyes off her. She moved in a strangely animalistic manner, her long body perfectly in sync with itself. She was tall, as girls go, probably 5'11'', maybe taller. However, unlike some people of that height, who never seemed to know where their limbs are, there was no flailing or awkwardness to her movements.

The floor was beginning to fill and push us closer together when my song came on.

_Step inside, walk this way, you and me babe, hey hey!_

This song always brought out the harlot in me. I moved even closer to Leah and rested my forearm across her shoulder. Swaying my hips and tossing my hair to the beat, I expected her to pull back. She surprised me by sliding her hands to my waist and moving her body with mine.

_Take the bottle, shake it up. Break the bubble, break it up! _I spun to press my back against her chest. She held my hands above my head as we ground our hips together.

_Pour some sugar on me, ooh, in the name of love  
Pour some sugar on me, c'mon fire me up  
Pour your sugar on me, oh, can't get enough_

We kept at it until the song ended. Again I expected her to pull away, to believe it was just dance. However as the next song came on, she merely pulled me closer, sliding her hands into my back pockets.

I have never been so glad to be intoxicated in my life. Sober me's brain would have been going a mile a minute, trying to figure out her motivations or her feelings. Drunk me simply allowed her to lead and rested my arms across her neck.

We stayed on the floor for a few more songs. Feeling hot and tired I slowly danced us back to our booth. The loudness of the club made conversation impossible and I couldn't really think of anything to say. I simply sat and sipped another drink, staring out at the writhing bodies on the dance floor. Leah hadn't moved her hand from my waist. I let my head fall to rest on her shoulder.

And there we stayed, not worrying about conversation or what we were doing meant. We just enjoyed each other's company as the people around us went through their modern day mating ritual. We left the bar at closing time, hugged each other and went our separate ways. I stumbled home, chugged a few glasses of water and went to bed. "Leave it 'til morning," the drunken part of my brain said and for once the sober part agreed.

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_**Disclaimer: The above is a work of fiction. **__**All recognizable characters are the property of their respective copyright owners. Any and all similarities to real life people and events are purely coincidental.**_


	3. Chapter 3

I spent most of Sunday doing inane busy work. I took my dogs for a two hour run along the lake, cleaned my entire apartment, re-organized my library and did four loads of laundry. Anything and everything I could think of to avoid thinking of what had happened the previous night. By 8pm I was sitting in my spotless apartment, staring at my napping Dalmatians, nothing left to distract me. My mind went into over drive.

_What was I thinking?_

_ What was she thinking?_

_ Is she actually interested?_

_ Was it the alcohol?_

_ Did she think it was just a friend thing?_

_ What am I going to say tomorrow?_

_ What am I going to wear tomorrow?_

_ Should I bring it up?_

_ Should it be brought up?_

"Aah!" my frustrated screams woke Romeo and Juliet from their slumber. Leaping to their feet, each offered a bark of agreement before trotting over to the couch. Romeo lay down on my feet and Juliet hopped up to lie across my lap.

"Oh, who needs people when one has dogs?" I muttered, scratching Juliet behind her ears. She lifted her head to look at me, her brown eyes full of joy. The temporary comfort passed as I thought of another pair of brown eyes, ones that never seemed to contain joy. Unable to avoid it any longer, I decided to call for help.

"Yo yo yiggity yo!"My sister's voice was always a welcome one. My not-so-babyish baby never failed to provide a fresh perspective on whatever trouble I was having.

"Hey babe. How be you?" my voice sounded wrong, even to my own ears. I had been hoping to begin the conversation with something other than my problems but that idea flew out the window.

"What's wrong? What did you do? And who did you do it with?"

"Girl I hired last week. Haven't done anything real yet..."

"But you seriously want to?"

"She gives me butterflies. Like, monarchs in autumn, butterflies."

"Is she gay Mel? Because if you are crushing on a straight girl again, I really can't help you."

"I don't know! Maggie says she'll swing and after the club last night I am inclined to believe her but..."

"What happened last night?" I relayed as much as I could remember about the previous night. Brianna listened intently and as I finished my tale, I could practically hear her shaking her head.

"Mel, Mel, Mel. What am I going to do with you?"

"I don't know; that's the entire problem. Fix it for me?" I sounded like a petulant child who didn't know how to solve a math problem.

"Honey, it's okay. You'll be fine. Now, MAN UP!" Her raised voice shocked me. "You are twenty three years old for god's sake. If you want something, now would be the time to go for it. Stop being such a pussy. Just ask her out. Or kiss her."

"But what if..."

"If she shoots you down, it'll be over and you'll move on. Don't let this girl be another Taylor. I won't watch that again."

My mind flashed back to the guy I fell in love with in high school. We spend two straight years flirting with and hitting on each other until he deployed to Iraq six months after graduation. I hadn't seen him since. Every time I saw a man in army uniform regrets ran through my mind. Bri was right.

"You're right. You heard anything about him lately?" Closer to our hometown, news, good or bad, would reach my sister before me.

"No, but then again, I'm not currently speaking to our parents."

"What happened?" Though fights with our parents weren't uncommon, it was my duty as the elder sibling to allow her ranting. The change of subject pulled my mind away from Leah once more and I eventually went to sleep. My last conscious thought before dreams claimed me was a vow to talk to Leah straight at my first chance the following day.

Fate seemed to be fighting me. It was mid-afternoon and I still hadn't had the chance to say anything non-work related to anyone. Leah had greeted me with a small smile first thing that morning. She wasn't avoiding me, so I took that as a good sign. It turned out I didn't even have to approach her.

I had ducked into the fridge to start my weekly inventory. Counting as fast as I could to avoid frostbite, I didn't turn around when I heard the door open.

"Argh! Damn it to hell!" Leah was red-faced and tugging on her short hair. I'd never seen her angry before. It was kind of cute, in an oddly scary way.

"What happened?"

"People are particularly stupid today; I cannot speak to anymore of them."

"Ah. Yep, I've been there. Wanna punch a box? It helps."

"No, I'll be fine. I'll just cool down in here for a few minutes."

"Good plan. Don't stay too long though. I can't feel my hands." I put my clipboard down and rubbed my hands together to prove my point. Leah laughed.

"Yeah, I don't have that problem." She crossed to the small space to where I was standing. She wrapped her hands around mine, "See?"

Her hands were exceptionally warm. In fact her entire body seemed to be radiating heat. Instinctively I moved closer to her. I raised my head to look at her face. She stared back at me, though I couldn't read much in her eyes.

"What would you do if I kissed you right now?" The reckless part of my brain had taken control of my mouth, whispering the words the rational part attempted to suppress.

"I'm not sure." I barely registered her words as I moved even closer.

Our lips met in a way I didn't expect. Usually when I kissed someone one of two things happened. One, the kiss ignites a fast burning fire that leads quickly to other acts of passion or two, nothing is felt and both parties leaved confused and unsatisfied. With Leah, neither happened. Instead of desperation consuming my entire body, slow burning desire sparked in my belly.

Her lips weren't as soft as most girls are but their slight roughness felt incredible as they pressed against my own. Not wanting to move too quickly I pulled her lower lip between my own, sucking gently before moving to her upper lip. Fighting my instincts I pulled back. I opened my eyes to see a genuine smile on Leah's face.

"You look gorgeous when you smile, did you know that?" I whispered, not wanting to ruin the moment with loud sounds.

"Sure. And monkeys fly." She always did that, countered every compliment with a sarcastic remark. I would have to ask her about that. I was just leaning in to kiss her again when the fridge door was thrown open.

"Sorry to interrupt but we just had like six tables walk in the door. Two large groups." Leah pulled quickly away from me, striding past Maggie to get back to the floor. I sighed and retrieved my inventory list from where I had put it down. Maggie was still standing in the door.

"Told you she'd swing." Her voice gloated and her eyes danced as I resumed my work.

"Customers. Go." I pointed out of the fridge with my pen but couldn't keep the elation out of my voice. What I was feeling was familiar yet new. Significantly more powerful than anything I'd felt before I was both excited and apprehensive. I knew what Leah and I were doing could end in pain but I didn't care. It would be fun.

We closed early that night, normal for a Monday. Maggie bounced off to be with her boyfriend, leaving Leah and I alone again. I couldn't think of anything to say, but for once she broke the silence, albeit with a single word.

"Movie?"

"New Batman?"

"Done."

We didn't speak during the four block walk to the theatre, though we managed to end up holding hands. Finding two seats in the back of the half empty cinema, not twenty minutes had past in the film before the desire to make contact overcame me. The darkness sparked some kind of magnetic pull between us and one look at her stiff posture told me she felt it too. I interlaced my fingers with hers in an attempt to soothe us both.

It helped, for about ten minutes. After that I moved the arm rest so the sides of our bodies could touch. Ten minutes after that Leah moved her hand from mine to place her arm across my shoulders. After that I leaned my head onto her shoulder, and then she leaned her head on mine. It was shocking how comfortable we seemed to be with each other. Normally getting to this point with someone took weeks.

By the time the movie ended our bodies were as close as they could be without me jumping into her lap. We watched the credits roll and the theatre clear, unwilling to move from our entangled position. Finally as the theatre slave came in to clean the popcorn and soda off the floor, I stood up. I knew it was just past midnight and that Leah and I had to work in about 6 hours. The logical part of my brain told me to call it a night. _You'll see her tomorrow anyway _it whispered. I turned to face the girl I couldn't stop thinking of.

"Should we call it a night?" I asked, offering a hand to pull her out of her seat. She took m hand and stood, our bodies almost touching as she looked down into my eyes.

"That's probably a good idea." She whispered "Do you want to call it a night?"

"What I want and what we should do are two very different things right now." I whispered back moving closer so our lips were but a breath apart. She closed the gap and I was in a different place once more.

I let her take the lead this time, matching the pressure of her mouth with my own. She moved her hand to the back of my neck as she gently suckled my upper lip. I couldn't help but melt into her body. I had just run my tongue across her bottom lip when a quiet cough interrupted us. _Right, _I thought, _you are standing in a movie theatre._

"Sorry, we'll go." I didn't even turn to face the throat clearer, instead staring straight at Leah as I picked up my bag. "Can I walk you home?"

"K." For the first time since I met her Leah seemed totally unsure of herself. She listed an address not far from the theatre, in one of the more run-down areas of the city. We walked slowly, stealing kisses at every red light. After a long kiss and an even longer hug outside her apartment building, I turned to leave.

"Hey, Mel?" I spun back around, half hoping, but not really expecting her to invite me inside. "Call me when you get home, okay? So I know you got there safe?"

The sweetness of her words shocked me. I nodded my head and walked back the way we came, my head bussing with this totally amazing girl. For the first time in a while, I was excited about tomorrow.

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_**Disclaimer: The above is a work of fiction. **__**All recognizable characters are the property of their respective copyright owners. Any and all similarities to real life people and events are purely coincidental.**_

_**A/N: I know I'm a horrible updater. I have no excuses. Hopefully the next chapter won't take nearly as long. Review if you'd like.  
**_


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